Cellulose is typically obtained from wood pulp and cotton and may be further modified to create other derivatives including cellulose ethers, cellulose esters and cellulose nitrate, among others. Cellulose derivatives have a variety of commercial uses. For example, cellulose acetate is the acetate ester of cellulose and is used for a variety of products, including textiles (e.g., linings, blouses, dresses, wedding and party attire, home furnishings, draperies, upholstery and slip covers), industrial uses (e.g., cigarette and other filters for tobacco products, and ink reservoirs for fiber tip pens, decking lumber), high absorbency products (e.g., diapers, sanitary napkins, and surgical products), thermoplastic products (e.g., film applications, plastic instruments, and tape), cosmetic and pharmaceutical (extended capsule/tablet release agents and encapsulating agent), medicinal (hypoallergenic surgical products) and others.
High purity α-cellulose is required as a starting material to make cellulose derivatives, such as cellulose acetate. Acetate-grade pulps are specialty raw materials produced in commercial pulp processes, but the cost for such pulps is high. Commercial paper grade pulps contain less than 90% α-cellulose and are potential crude cellulosic sources for making cellulose derivatives. However, paper grade pulp also contains a high amount of impurities, such as hemicellulose, rendering it incompatible with certain industrial uses, such as making acetate flake or tow.
Zhou et al. discusses the use of dimethyldioxirane (DMDO), a pulp bleaching agent, to treat birch pulp and obtain acetate-grade pulp. However, DMDO is not commercially available due to its instability. Therefore, it is not an ideal solvent for producing large quantities of high α-cellulose pulp. Zhou et al. “Acetate-grade pulp from birch,” BioResources, (2010), 5(3), 1779-1778.
Studies have been done regarding the treatment of biomass to form biofuels. Specifically, it is known that various ionic liquids can be used to dissolve cellulosic material. S. Zhu et al. in Green Chem. 2006, 8, pp. 325-327, describe the possibility of dissolving cellulose in ionic liquids and recovering it by addition of suitable precipitates such as water, ethanol, or acetone.
Others have used ionic liquids to break down the cellulosic materials to make biofuels by way of glucose. For example, US Pat. Appl. 2010/0112646 discloses a process for preparing glucose from a cellulosic material, in which a cellulose-comprising starting material is provided and treated with a liquid treatment medium comprising an ionic liquid and an enzyme. Similarly, US Pat. Appl. 2010/0081798 discloses a process for preparing glucose from a material containing ligno-cellulose, in which the material is first treated with an ionic liquid and then subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. US Pat. Appl. 2010/0081798 describes obtaining glucose by treating a material containing lingo-cellulose with an ionic liquid and subjecting same to an enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. However, in order to turn cellulose containing materials into glucose, the methods disclosed in these references result in breaking down the cellulose molecules, making them unsuitable for use as starting materials to make cellulose derivatives.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,936 describes a method for dissolving cellulose in which the cellulose based raw material is admixed with a mixture of a dipolar aprotic intercrystalline swelling agent and an ionic liquid. This method results in the complete dissolution of the cellulose and destruction of the fiber morphology of the cellulose. Although the cellulose may be regenerated using a non-solvent, the crystallinity of the regenerated cellulose is lower than the original cellulose sample.
Therefore the need exists for methods for producing high purity α-cellulose from lower grade starting materials without destroying the fiber morphology and other characteristics of the cellulose structure. In particular, the need exists for cost effective methods for removing hemicellulose from cellulosic materials to recover high purity α-cellulose that can be converted to other cellulose derivatives.